The Role:Moderna is seeking a Director, Analytical Chemistry to provide scientific, strategic, and organizational leadership for discovery-stage analytical chemistry activities supporting mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) research across a diverse portfolio of nucleic acid medicines. This leader will define and advance analytical strategies that enable rapid design-make-test-learn cycles across novel ionizable lipids, polymers, excipients, payloads, formulations, and delivery systems used in mRNA-LNP therapeutics and vaccines.
The successful candidate will serve as a senior analytical partner to medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, formulation, delivery sciences, platform biology, and selected development functions to accelerate molecular design, analytical decision-making, and candidate progression. The individual will guide analytical approaches spanning small molecules, polymers and lipid characterization, impurity profiling, structure elucidation, orthogonal physicochemical characterization, and fit-for-purpose evaluation of RNA, lipid, and nanoparticle attributes in support of discovery and early development objectives.
Building Moderna's technical model for analytical leadership, this role will provide strategic oversight of method development, method qualification and transfer where appropriate, characterization, impurity identification, and analytical control strategy concepts relevant to discovery and translational research. The leader will help define decision-quality analytical packages, ensure alignment of analytical deliverables with program milestones, and provide technical guidance and oversight to both internal teams and external CRO/CDMO partners.
This position requires deep expertise in modern analytical chemistry and a strong ability to translate complex data into actionable scientific decisions. The ideal candidate will combine technical depth in separation science, characterization, and structure elucidation with proven leadership experience, sound scientific judgment, and the ability to build productive partnerships across internal teams and external collaborators. Experience supporting transitions from discovery through IND-enabling or early clinical development is strongly valued. Experience with high-throughput methodologies is highly desirable, and familiarity with artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques is considered a strong plus.
This role will be in Cambridge, MA.
Here's What You'll Do- Lead and develop a high-performing team of analytical scientists and, depending on organizational design, matrix-lead additional scientists across analytical chemistry, characterization, and platform functions supporting discovery-stage mRNA-LNP research.
- Set the analytical chemistry vision and strategy for discovery-stage mRNA-LNP programs, ensuring fit-for-purpose analytical capabilities are available to support lipid design, payload evaluation, formulation screening, and candidate advancement.
- Serve as the senior analytical partner to medicinal chemistry teams by enabling structure confirmation, purity and impurity profiling, route support, reference standard strategy, and rapid troubleshooting for novel lipids and related small molecules.
- Partner closely with computational chemistry and data science teams to translate molecular design hypotheses into analytical learning plans, generate data sets that improve structure-property understanding, and inform iterative design of ionizable lipids and related delivery materials.
- Collaborate with formulation and delivery sciences teams to establish robust analytical workflows for screening and characterizing LNP systems, including support for lipid composition assessment, encapsulation-related analytics, degradation pathways, and physicochemical attribute characterization.
- Guide fit-for-purpose analytical method development, optimization, qualification, transfer, and lifecycle management across chromatography, mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, and orthogonal characterization platforms.
- Provide scientific leadership in small molecule and lipid structure elucidation, impurity identification, forced degradation or stress studies where relevant, and root-cause analysis of analytical or material quality issues.
- Oversee analytical characterization strategies for relevant large molecules and nucleic acid components, with familiarity in mRNA or related RNA analytics and the interfaces between drug substance, formulation, and drug product performance.
- Work with discovery, platform, and selected development teams to ensure analytical deliverables, technical risk assessments, and timelines remain aligned with program objectives and portfolio milestones.
- Provide technical leadership and oversight to external partners, including CROs and CDMOs, for specialty characterization, method transfer, development support, and data package review.
- Author and review technical reports, analytical development documentation, invention disclosures, publications, and selected regulatory-facing analytical content as appropriate for the maturity of the program.
- Serve as a strategic and technical partner to Research, Technical Development, Analytical Development, and Process Chemistry and Development functions to drive analytical strategy discussions, define action items, and build scalable capabilities where discovery and development intersect.
- Represent analytical chemistry in cross-functional governance, portfolio discussions, technical reviews, and external interactions, and help shape investment priorities for instrumentation, digital workflows, and scientific capability building.
- You will apply high-throughput methodologies to accelerate research and development efforts, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance data analysis and decision-making.
- Analytical development in Moderna is structured around a centers-of-emphasis model and accordingly the individual will liaise with the appropriate teams and groups to lead technical and strategic efforts in the area of small molecule, lipid, RNA, and nanoparticle analytics.
Here's What You'll Need (Basic Qualifications)- Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Biology, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related discipline, with 9+ years of relevant industry experience; a strong M.S. candidate with significant leadership experience may also be considered.
- Substantial experience in analytical chemistry supporting discovery research and/or early development in biotech or pharmaceutical settings, including demonstrated leadership at the program, function, or platform level.
- Deep expertise in small molecules, polymers and lipid analytical chemistry, including structure elucidation, impurity assessment, method development, advanced characterization, and the use of orthogonal analytical approaches and tools for novel chemical entities or excipients.
- Deep expertise in separation techniques and analytical platforms such as UPLC, HPLC, LC-MS, LC-CAD, GC-MS, CE, NMR, UV/Vis, IR, particle or colloidal characterization methods, and other relevant physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques.
- Working knowledge of large molecule and nucleic acid analytics, with meaningful familiarity in mRNA or related RNA characterization and an understanding of how RNA quality attributes interface with formulation and delivery performance.
- Demonstrated managerial abilities and strong technical leadership in both direct reporting relationships and in a matrix and cross-functional environment to execute strategy.
- Experience with technology transfer to internal or external partners and with building productive working relationships with CRO and/or CDMO collaborators.
- Experience in developing phase-appropriate analytical strategies and control concepts in settings that bridge discovery and development, including familiarity with technical documentation that supports progression into regulated environments.
- Sound understanding of analytical methods pertaining to mRNA-LNP products and their components, including the relationships between lipid identity, composition, formulation properties, and product performance.
- Familiarity with electronic laboratory notebooks, CDS, LES, and/or LIMS and an interest in modern data workflows that improve decision making and execution speed.
- Experience applying high-throughput methodologies to accelerate research and development, along with proficiency in leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance data analysis and inform decision-making.
- Excellent communication and influence skills, with the ability to distill complex analytical data into clear recommendations for senior leaders and diverse scientific stakeholders.
- Exceptional ability to drive teams toward best practices in a fast-paced environment while helping build durable technical and business processes.
- This position is site-based, requiring you to be at Moderna's site full-time. This position is not eligible for remote work.
Here's What You'll Bring to the Table (Preferred Qualifications)- Experience supporting mRNA-LNP, oligonucleotide, gene editing, or related nucleic acid modalities in discovery, translational, or early development settings.
- Experience with lipid library characterization, ionizable lipid structure-property relationships, and analytical support for high-throughput or iterative formulation screening workflows.
- Experience contributing to IND-enabling or early clinical development programs, including analytical sections of technical reports, regulatory submissions, or health authority responses.
- Familiarity with design-of-experiments, multivariate data analysis, cheminformatics-enabled workflows, and digital laboratory systems.
- Experience with high-throughput methodologies is highly desirable, and familiarity with artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.
- A publication, patent, or innovation record that demonstrates scientific thought leadership in analytical chemistry, delivery sciences, or nucleic acid therapeutics.
Pay & BenefitsAt Moderna, we believe that when you feel your best, you can do your best work. That's why our US benefits and global well-being resources are designed to support you-at work, at home, and everywhere in between.- Best-in-class healthcare coverage, plus voluntary benefit programs to support your unique needs
- A holistic approach to well-being, with access to fitness, mindfulness, and mental health support
- Family planning benefits, including fertility, adoption, and surrogacy support
- Generous paid time off, including vacation, volunteer days, sabbatical, global recharge days, and a discretionary year-end shutdown
- Savings and investment opportunities to help you plan for the future
- Location-specific perks and extras
The salary range for this role is $167,000.00 - $300,700.00. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An individual's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, performance, and business or organizational needs.The successful candidate may be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, other incentive compensation, or equity award, subject to company plan eligibility criteria and individual performance.
Our Working Model
As we build our company, we have always believed an in-person culture is critical to our success. Moderna champions the significant benefits of in-office collaboration by embracing a 70/30 work model. This 70% in-office structure helps to foster a culture rich in innovation, teamwork, and direct mentorship. Join us in shaping a world where every interaction is an opportunity to learn, contribute, and make a meaningful impact.
Moderna is a smoke-free, alcohol-free, and drug-free work environment.
